NYDFS Releases New Guidelines on Listing and Delisting Crypto on Trading Platforms

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the authority that supervises and regulates activities of financial institutions in the State of New York, has released a guidance that regulate the listing and delisting of cryptocurrencies.

The updated guidance, named Guidance Regarding Listing of Virtual Currencies, was published by Superintendent Adrienne Harris after the NYDFS proposed its draft in September and consulted for public comment about the content.

What the New Guidance Means

The guidance aims to heighten the standards for the current crypto listing and delisting process. According to the guidance, all New York-charted virtual currency businesses, or VC Entities, should submit their coin-listing and coin-delisting policies for the agency’s approval. The NYDFS stated that no coin-listing policy will be approved without its accompanying coin-delisting policy.

If the VC Entities fail to implement their approved listing and delisting policies, they are not allowed to list or delist any coins not included in the NYDFS’s “greenlist.”

The guidance demands that if a listed coin is identified as presenting “newly elevated risk,” “whether through a VC Entity’s monitoring process, a DFS-identified weakness or vulnerability, or otherwise,” the VC Entities must discontinue the support of that coin.

“This guidance continues the Department’s commitment to an innovative and data-driven approach to virtual currency oversight, keeping pace with industry developments,” said Superintendent Harris. “DFS is consistently at the forefront of virtual currency regulation, translating years of knowledge and experience into timely and relevant guidance which protects consumers and markets.”

The letter states that the Guidance Regarding Listing of Virtual Currencies is effective immediately and will entirely supersedes the Guidance Regarding Listing of Virtual Currencies, known as the Prior Guidance published in 2020.

All VC Entities are required to meet with the NYDFS by December 8, 2023, with their coin-delisting policy drafts. The final coin-delisting policies must be submitted to the NYDFS for approval by January 31, 2024.